Gophers suffer embarrassing nonconference loss to North Texas at home

Minnesota was not able to overcome a disastrous first half.

Nov 13, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; North Texas Mean Green guard Rondel Walker (5) and Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Dawson Garcia (3) dive for the ball during the first half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota men's basketball team put together an abysmal first half of basketball and it was too much to overcome in a 54-51 loss to North Texas Wednesday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

The Gophers came into Wednesday's game severely banged up, but Mike Mitchell Jr. was ultimately the only addition to the injury report. Despite both players missing multiple days of practice, Dawson Garcia was fully active, and Canisius transfer big man Frank Mitchell made his Minnesota debut.

North Texas completely controlled the tempo of the first half. The Mean Green came into the game playing the fourth-slowest pace in the country, and the Gophers fell right into their trap. Minnesota's offense looked completely lost shooting 3 for 21 (14.3%) from the field and it had more than twice as many turnovers (8) than made field goals.

The Gophers trailed 23-14 heading into halftime. Garcia had a team-high six points, while the rest of the team combined for eight points and 2-for-19 shooting from the field. Both teams had serious struggles to generate any consistent offense, creating a borderline unwatchable first half of basketball.

Minnesota came out of the locker room with some urgency. After making 5-of-6 field goals, the Gophers cut North Texas' lead to 30-27 and reignited some energy into the home crowd at The Barn. They surpassed their first-half scoring total just over five minutes into the second half.

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— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) November 14, 2024

Garcia turned it in the second half with 18 points, which brought his total to 24 for the night. The Gophers were much more efficient as an offense, shooting 12 for 27 (44.4%) as a team in the second half, but North Texas simply made more plays and handed Minnesota its first defeat of the season.

The Gophers were not able to find a secondary scorer outside of Garcia, who scored 47% of the team's points. Lu'Cye Patterson was the team's second-leading scorer with nine points on 3-for-14 shooting from the field.

Minnesota will have another sneaky nonconference test on Saturday against Yale. That game will tip off at 3 p.m. at The Barn, and it will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.